Auror School
by Penelope Richmond
Summary: How on earth did Tonks become an Auror if she's so clumsy? In fact, why on earth did she? OMG, another chapter! Far out! :
1. It was All HIS Idea

**A/N: **OK, here it is, the one you've all been waiting for … A NEW STORY! YAY!

UPDATED: Sorry for those who are confused, there were a couple of things I wanted to change. Read again if you wish, it will make more sense if you do.

Just so you know, I imagine this to be happening in early April 1989. An explanation of how I reached that is at the end of the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter or anything else you recognise, but I do own Will (man, _I _want a boyfriend like him!)

**Chapter One**

**It was All HIS Idea**

It started out as a joke. We had Career Advice the next day, and I had no idea what I was going to tell Flitwick. I mean, I wasn't exactly a model student, was I? I kidded around in class and just scraped through exams. As long as I passed, however marginally, I was happy.

Anyway, the whole thing started out as a joke. My boyfriend and I were alone in the common room (get your minds out of the gutter!) talking about the said appointments with our Head of House.

"Do you know what you're going to say to him?" I asked Will.

"I've always fancied something not too hard, like … I dunno … working with animals, maybe? I always like Care of Magical Creatures, so maybe something like that …"

I giggled. "You don't even take Care of Magical Creatures, you dimwit."

"So? That doesn't mean I can't enjoy it!" Will replied heatedly, though there was laughter in his eyes.

"Good luck getting into something like that, William Beaumont, you lovable old idiot you," I laughed, kissing him on the nose. "You do need OWLs in Care of Magical Creatures to get into work with animals. Haven't you been reading those pamphlets?" I grabbed a fistful of the said pamphlets sitting atop the table near us.

"What about you, Nymph?" he asked me. "What do you plan on doing once you get out of here?"

I shrugged. "Something not too difficult, like you said, I guess," I replied thoughtfully. "I probably don't have the marks to do anything else."

To my surprise, Will burst out laughing. "What?" I asked, hurt. "I don't have the marks to get into something like Healing, do I?"

"No," he spluttered, trying to keep a straight face and failing dismally. "I just had the funniest thought, that's all."

"What was it?" I asked.

"You said that you wanted to be an Auror. Isn't that funny? I mean, you, an Auror? I'll become Minister for Magic before that happens!"

Normally I would have laughed with him. But that night, something just struck a chord and I took what he said to heart.

"You know, just for that, I'll tell Flitwick I want to be an Auror."

My beloved boyfriend began laughing even harder. "Come off it, Nymph! You, an Auror? You, the girl who's too busy experimenting with hairstyles and nose shapes to pay attention in class?"

"Yeah," I said. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll become an Auror."

The laughter died down. "Are – are you – _serious?_" he asked.

"Absolutely," I replied. I was laughing by then.

He still thought it was a joke. Man, _I _thought it was a joke. But I never even considered telling Flitwick anything else. After an Auror, nothing seemed right. I just had to be an Auror. Nothing else would do.

The next day I tried to knock gracefully on the door of Filius Flitwick, my Head of House and Charms teacher, but the effect was rather ruined by the fact that I'd been running so fast that I ran headlong into the door.

"Come in," I heard as I managed to knock properly.

"Sorry, Professor," I muttered as I went in.

"Miss Tonks?" he asked uncertainly. A normal person would be rather put off by this behaviour from a teacher they've known for nearly five years, but I was used to it.

"Yes, Professor." I suppose I had put in more of an effort that day. I had a perfect button nose, blue eyes and blonde straight hair; I looked almost normal. Not like the last time I'd seen Flitwick, where I'd been experimenting and had hair in the colours of the Union Jack. But anyway, I'd made an effort that day.

"Miss Tonks, please sit down," said Flitwick kindly. "Now, what sort of career would you like to get into?"

"I'd like to be an Auror, Professor."

I expected him to burst out laughing like Will had the night before, but he managed to keep a straight face.

"Hmm…" he said as he flicked through my folder. "You'll need at least five 'Exceeds Expectations' NEWTs, Miss Tonks, and there's a further three years of study outside Hogwarts, are you sure that you want to make that sort of commitment?"

"Yes, sir," I replied confidently.

"Very well. Let's see here, you'll need to study Defence Against the Dark Arts, obviously, and I'd recommend Transfiguration and Charms. You may also consider taking Potions -"

"Potions?" I squeaked.

"Yes, Miss Tonks, Potions. I see here that you are struggling a little in Potions but I'm sure that Professor Snape would be happy to speak to you about your grade -"

"Professor Snape hates me, sir!"

Flitwick raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm sure Professor Snape feels nothing of the sort. He does not accept any students who do not achieve an 'Outstanding' grade in their OWL, so you will have to study hard for your exam. Do you have a problem with that, Miss Tonks?"

"No, sir."

"Very well." He flicked through my folder again. "As for Defence Against the Dark Arts, you seem to be averaging an 'Exceeds Expectations' grade, which is excellent, Professor Rosenberg will have no problem with taking you next year –"

"Professor Rosenberg? What about Professor Quirrell?"

"He's taking a year off for some hands-on experience, Miss Tonks, as I am sure you have been informed -"

_Eh? _I thought. _Whatever…_

"Professor McGonagall tells me you're achieving a 'Poor' at the moment, and she won't take anything below an E, so some work is needed there. You've been getting fairly consistent A's in my classes so your Charms is almost up to scratch. Do you have any questions, Miss Tonks?"

"What else should I study?" I asked. "You said I needed five E's but you've only mentioned four subjects."

"Hmm." He looked through my folder again. "Ancient Runes could be useful, but you seem to be doing a little poorly in that subject. Perhaps Care of Magical Creatures would be a good idea? Professor Kettleburn has graded you at an A at the moment, so you seem to be doing well. Is that all?" I nodded. "Very well. You may leave."

"Sorry, Professor, just one question?"

"Yes, Miss Tonks?"

"Do you think I can do it?" I asked. "Do you think I can be an Auror?"

"Miss Tonks," he began, removing his glasses and polishing them on his robes. "I believe you can do anything if you try."

"Thanks, Professor," I said as I stood.

"You're most welcome, Miss Tonks. Do come and see me if you have any problems."

My consultation was one of the last for the day, so I felt no need to return to my class (I think it was Ancient Runes). I headed for the common room to drop off my books before dinner. As soon as the bell went I rushed my hungry backside to the Great Hall.

I had a mouthful of mashed potato and lamb chop when Will sat beside me.

"Well, how did you go?" he asked as he placed five sausages on his plate (yes, he was a big eater, my Will).

I swallowed hurriedly. "Flitwick reckons I can do it."

"Serious?"

I nodded. "I need to do a lot of work between now and exams, but it's possible. What about you?"

"He suggested I 'think about something hands-on in the Ministry of Magic'. You know, like Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes or something. They don't want very much, and it would be fun, he reckons."

He took a mouthful and chewed thoughtfully. After a long pause, he said, "D'you know what, Nymph? I think you can do it, too."

* * *

**Final A/N: **OK, to explain the Quirrell thing: Hagrid told Harry in the first book that Quirrell had taken a year off, and we learn later that this is where he met Voldemort. I, like most people, assumed that this was the year before Harry began at Hogwarts, but if you look at the text closely you'll see that Hagrid has already had time to get used to the changes in Quirrell's character, which would not have been possible if he'd only just got back. There is also no 'Welcome Back, Professor Quirrell' speech at the Welcoming Feast, which would seem natural if he'd just got back. So he must have been back for at least a year already, and I'm making an executive decision that his year off was the 1989-1990 school year, in which Tonks was in sixth year. There is an excellent essay on the Harry Potter Lexicon describing this: _Quirrell's Leave of Absence. _

And how did I work out what year this was all happening in? Well:

Tonks says when she meets Harry that she only qualified as an Auror a year before. This was in summer 1995, so she qualified around summer 1994 (around the time Lupin quit his teaching job and Harry started fourth year). McGonagall told Harry that Auror training lasts three years, so she began her third year in summer 1993 (after the Chamber of Secrets incident), her second in summer 1992 (after the Philosopher's Stone incident) and her first in summer 1991 (around the time Harry starts at Hogwarts). So she began her seventh year at Hogwarts in 1990, and took her OWLs in 1989. OK? According to my calculations (and a lot of other people's too) Charlie Weasley was in Tonks' year. Most of this is also confirmed on the Lexicon, so don't just take my word for it!

I would just like to point out that that was one hell of an Author's Note.


	2. Potions Lesson and Hot Quidditch Players

**A/N: **Well, folks, I know I said I probably wouldn't write anything else on this story, but I received a lovely review from ClanChadder, which inspired me to keep trying. So thanks, CC, and so I give you many virtual hugs to match the ones I gave you at the start of the year. And I seriously hope you are not weeping! I'm not that good … and thanks to all my other reviewers too!

So: I actually have a tentative plot in my head, although so far I only have until she leaves Hogwarts, so it doesn't have much to do with 'Auror School' per se, but the title stays for now. I'm sorry this chapter took so long, even after I said I'd continue this fic, but I worked out all the Ravenclaw fifth years, and stuff like that and I had a little bit of Writer's block.

I noticed there was rather a lot of dialogue in the last chapter and I've tried to cut it down, but I'm not sure if I did a very good job … the story doesn't really lend itself to description (as much as I love it). And I worked out that Professor Quirrell was actually her DADA teacher (rather than 'Professor Rosenberg' which is a name I pulled straight out of my butt) but for her sixth year he took a year off, so I fixed that in the last chapter. More details about that are at the end of the last chapter. And in case you wanted to know, I have 'Atomic' by Blondie stuck in my head.

**Disclaimer: **Ahem. I kinda forgot this last chapter (I've put it in now though), so I'd just like to point out that I don't own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with him. If I did, I'd either be JKR and rich or totally in love, both of which I sadly am not. I do own Tonks' friend and Matilda McPherson, and her boyfriend William Beaumont. Yay! Oh, and the hot Keeper Lachie Langston, the other members of the Quidditch team, the rest of the Ravenclaw fifth years (minus Augustus Pye) and Marcellus Pennyfeather.

I think this is set in early April 1989 – full details as to how I reached that date are at the end of the previous chapter too, if anyone is interested.

I would just like to point out that that was another monster A/N.

* * *

**Chapter Two**  
**A Disastrous Potions Lesson and Hot Quidditch Players**

A lot of people think that I don't have to spend any time getting ready in the mornings, that I just have to morph myself to look however the hell I want to look. Sorry to disappoint everyone, but that's just not true. I can change the cut, length, colour and type of my hair, but I still have to wash it, dry it, brush it and put it up everyday (which is the reason I tend to wear it short on weekdays, because I never have time to put it up). I can't get rid of things like scars (and I have a few stunners, trust me. You can't be as clumsy as me and not have some spectacular scars!) and I have a birthmark on my stomach I can't get rid of either. I can create scars and freckles and things but if I get it naturally, I can't get rid of it.

One September I came to school with spectacular sunburn and everyone wondered why I didn't get rid of it. They were very surprised to find that I couldn't, it just doesn't work that way. I was quite short with everyone that day, but that might have had something to do with the fact that one of Will's friends from Hufflepuff had just called me "Nymph" like Will does and I totally blew my top. Only Will is allowed to call me that because he thinks it's cute and I love him too much to get annoyed at him. But I'm getting sidetracked, so I'll just say that no matter how many times they ask, I will not be able to change myself into a boy.

I can change my height, however, and I can make myself look a little bit younger than I really am or a lot older: once I scared Mattie by looking like an old woman, wrinkles and all, it was hilarious. I can't really change my general shape, or maybe I just don't want to – some Metamorphmagi can make themselves fatter or thinner and some can't. I've never tried. I made myself bustier once, just to see if I could, but I'm totally against the physical ideals of our society that include bustiness (which I'm fairly sure is not a word but we'll get over that) and so I never did it again. I would never do anything like that just to make myself more appealing.

All thoughts of my bust size aside, after my interview with Flitwick on Wednesday, I vowed to myself that I would work harder than I had in my entire life. I felt energised by the fact that my life had some purpose and I planned to get all my homework in on time and pay attention in class, even History of Magic.

However, these promises crashed around my ears as I walked into Potions first thing on Thursday morning…

"Miss Tonks," Snape practically spat at me as I took my seat between Will and Matilda McPherson, my best friend. "Do you honestly think that you could be an Auror? Or is dear Filius playing a dirty trick on me?"

"No, sir," I said, looking straight into his cold, black eyes. "I want to be an Auror and I'll do my best to get there."

He smirked at me. "I think you are in for a hard fall back to Earth, Miss Tonks. Happy flying…"

He walked swiftly back to his desk. "Please quieten down," he told the class.

There was no need for such an order. The class was perfectly quiet already.

"Today we are going to…" He paused, as if searching for the right word, "_attempt _to make a fairly weak Truth Serum. It is nowhere near as strong as Veriteserum but it is quite unique in the fact that it contains those ingredients that would normally be used in a Sleeping Draught. This gives the victim less control over his tongue and makes the potion quite effective. It would, of course, work better if the victim were intoxicated or perhaps Confunded. Begin."

There was the usual rush to gather ingredients and light cauldrons. I squinted at the board and read the first line of instructions.

"_Boil water at medium heat. Add seven Jobberknoll feathers and stew for ten minutes."_

I lit the fire underneath my cauldron and fetched water from the basin in the corner. I scanned the rest of the instructions while I waited for it to boil and brought out the other ingredients I would need.

The class was quieter now, as most people were waiting for their cauldrons to boil or were stewing their feathers. Professor Snape took advantage of the silence to test me.

"I wonder if Miss Tonks can tell us why Jobberknoll feathers are used in Truth Serums?" he asked quietly.

"We use Jobberknoll feathers…" I began, thinking hard. The creature rang a bell in my head, although I couldn't remember where from. _Maybe Care of Magical Creatures? Yes, I remember now…_

"We use Jobberknoll feathers because Jobberknolls have outstanding memories," I said. "Perhaps they help the person remember what they need to say when they're telling the truth, sir?"

"Jobberknolls remember every sound they have ever heard and repeat them in a long stream at the moment they die, so their feathers enhance the memory of the drinker." said Snape, completely ignoring the fact that I'd just answered his question correctly and deserved House points. "Their feathers are also used in Memory Potions."

I was royally pissed off that I didn't get any credit for answering the question – so royally pissed off that I put in about thirty drops of Essence of Granadilla instead of the recommended three. My potion turned a dull red and bubbled ferociously into nothing.

Professor Snape was upon me before I could utter even half a swear word. "Miss Tonks," he said, smirking, "you are a disgrace to your house. You will write an essay two feet in length on the correct way to concoct this potion, its full history and a detailed outline of what Marcellus Pennyfeather has to say about it in _Standard OWL Level Potions. _Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," I muttered, furious.

"Very well. Say nothing until the end of class."

I put away my ingredients, fuming silently. Two feet! As if I didn't have enough homework to be going on with…

I spent most of break abusing Snape while Mattie listened sympathetically, and by the time the bell rang I felt much better. Mattie and Will went to Muggle Studies together and I went to Ancient Runes in an almost-but-not-quite good mood.

OoO

Professor Snape was the only one of my teachers who was openly against my decision to become an Auror. Some, like Professor Quirrell, didn't know I'd even made such a decision, and others (like Professor McGonagall) were pleasantly surprised that I was making more of an effort than I had previously. Although in some classes, like History of Magic and Ancient Runes, I didn't make much more of an effort because they are completely pointless subjects.

Besides the catastrophic Potions lesson on Thursday morning, the rest of the week went very well. Professor Flitwick praised me on the progress I was making in Colour-Changing Charms on Thursday afternoon, and Professor Sinistra told the class my essay on Phobos and Deimos was 'excellent'. McGonagall didn't exactly praise me on anything, but the lack of criticism was certainly encouraging.

OoO

On Saturday morning Mattie and I went down to the Quidditch Pitch to watch the Ravenclaw team practice, because Mattie is madly in love with the Keeper, Lachie Langston. I will admit he is quite good-looking, but I'm quite happy with my own boyfriend and besides, the Seeker is hotter.

"Oh Merlin, Tonks, did you see that save?" Mattie asked me adoringly. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Yes, and all twenty-three you've already pointed out to me," I said.

"Shut up," Mattie said, though she was smiling.

I spotted a girl from our dormitory, Ethel Langston (who is also Lachie's younger sister) doing an essay below us in the stands. "Ethel!" I called, waving frantically. "Argh!"

Mattie laughed at me as I tumbled over three rows of seats and landed in a heap a lot closer to Ethel and the pitch than I'd started. "Dammit!"

Ethel scrambled up the stands. "Are you okay, Tonks?"

"Yeah," I replied thickly, spitting out a mouthful of my blue hair that had found it's way into my oral cavity when I landed. "I'm always doing that."

Once my friends were sure I was okay, they settled back into their previous activities: Transfiguration homework (Ethel) and drooling (Mattie).

"What are you doing out here, Ethel?" I asked. Her presence had just struck me as rather odd (she was much more of an indoorsy person).

Ethel rolled her eyes as she looked up at me. "Lachie wanted me to come out and watch them train because he wants to get me hooked up with one of the Beaters, I can't remember which one." She grinned at me. "Like that's ever going to happen."

The last statement was perfectly true. Ethel was very pretty and quite a few boys had their eyes on her from afar, but she was totally absorbed in her studies and was not interested in relationships whatsoever.

Mattie came out of her adoring stupor just long enough to ask, "Lachie's trying to get you hooked up with Jacob Scarlett?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

I snorted. "I should hope so, the other Beater's Rachael Page!" Rachael was in our year and slept in our dormitory.

"Is she?" Ethel asked.

I laughed. "You're very smart and we love you and all, but you really have no clue when it comes to Quidditch, do you?"

Around half an hour later the team finished their practice, and despite the first sunshine we'd had for months, we reluctantly went back inside to do homework. We found every fifth-year Ravenclaw in the common room slaving over some essay or another.

Before getting out my own homework I looked at each of my classmates in turn. Ethel was settling down at a table by herself in near the eastern wall, and Rachael Page, the Beater, sat down few feet away from her. To her left was Billy Walker, who was a Chaser on the Quidditch team, who had just joined his friend Angus, Mattie's twin brother. Over near the fire sat Augustus Pye and Chris Kingston, who appeared to be working together on something, and Isabel Durham lay opposite them on the floor, a lengthy essay spread out in front of her. Mattie and Will were sitting on the couch, waiting for me. I joined them, we enjoyed a _lovely_ day of homework and there was much sarcasm in that last sentence.

OoO

On Monday I had Ancient Runes first up. Ethel is the only other girl who took Ancient Runes and she's generally too busy actually doing work to talk to me, so I usually don't have much fun in Ancient Runes. It's a bit of a contradictory class for me: as much as I love Professor Bridgewater, I think the subject is pointless and therefore don't pay much attention.

However, Ethel had finished the translation we were working on and so, miraculously, had I (although I would find out later that, had it been a test, I would have received a T). To my complete and utter surprise, (she and I don't normally have very much to do with each other, though I guess you could say we were friends) she passed me a note.

_Have you finished? Wow. Why do you even take this subject if you have so much trouble with it?_

I grinned as I read it. I scribbled back:

_Because I like Bridgewater too much to give it up._

_Right, I see. Why did you take it in the first place?_

_Heh heh, this is going to be long. Are you sure you want to know?_

_Tell me after class._

_OK._

As soon as we left the classroom and headed to break, I explained further:

"At the end of second year, I had no effing idea which OWL subjects I wanted to take. I stared at the list blankly for about ten minutes before I wrote to my parents and stuffed it in the bottom of my bag."

Ethel laughed. "I can imagine that!"

I grinned. "They wrote back a few days later (separately, like I'd requested, because otherwise Dad's part would be totally censored by my mother). Mum wrote something along the lines of: _'Arithmancy is very useful, darling, it helps a lot in many areas, but it is quite difficult. Divination can be useful, too, and Care of Magical Creatures is very interesting… The rest, I'm afraid, is up to you.'"_

She laughed again. "So in other words, that was completely pointless?"

"Bingo. My Dad, however, was much more abrupt: _'Arithmancy's too hard, and Divination is total-' _I won't tell you what the last word was, but it had eight letters and began with a 'B'."

"Don't worry, Tonks, I know!"

"I tend to follow Dad's advice more than I follow Mum's, because we're very similar and tend to share opinions, you know? So I immediately crossed Arithmancy and Divination off my list. I also had no intention whatsoever of taking Muggle Studies, 'cause Dad's Muggleborn and I know everything I want to know, thanks very much!"

"I know exactly how you feel," said Ethel. "My mum's a Muggle."

"Anyway, a few days after I received these letters from Mum and Dad, Flitwick told me (quite by accident, I think) that the Ravenclaws would take Care of Magical Creatures with the Gryffindors. From that moment I immediately knew I wanted to take Care of Magical Creatures because I had a rather violent crush on Charlie Weasley at the time-"

"Did you?" Ethel interrupted. "I never knew that…"

"-and everyone knew he was obsessed with animals. Therefore Care of Magical Creatures ended up with a big tick next to it on my form. So did Ancient Runes because it was the only subject left."

Ethel grinned as we reached Mattie and Will in the courtyard. "That was a very long story to answer a simple question," she said. "See you later!"

"Bye!" I yelled after her.

* * *

**Another A/N: **Well, I'm glad that's over. I'm thoroughly pissed off that I can't answer your reviews in the chapters now but I think I've answered all the verified reviews personally. If I missed you, please let me know! 

Hopefully the next chapter will be easier to write. I discovered that I have trouble writing the introductory chapters to stories, linking the very beginning and the start of the real plot, but now I know that hopefully I will get better at it.

All right, I'm about to send this to CC to be beta-ed, so ciao!

Pen


	3. The Trials of Being Nymphadora Tonks

**A/N: **Oh my God. I started this chapter months ago but ended up writing it at the rate of about a line a week, and then I went away, and then I came back, and then I kept getting sidetracked, but here it is. Done. Finito. Whatever.

**Chapter Three**

**The Trials of Being Nymphadora Tonks**

On Monday evening I found, to my great surprise, that I'd finished all my urgent homework (that is, everything that was due the next day – the rest could wait). I was feeling restless and I persuaded Will to go for a walk with me. The conversation went something like this:

**Me:** Wanna go for a walk?

**Will:** Sure.

I turned to go upstairs to my dormitory. Will looked slightly confused.

"What are you doing? I thought we were going for a walk?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. "We are. I'm just getting a coat, the sun's going down and it'll be cold out there."

He grinned. "I knew that."

A minute later, when I was wearing a denim jacket and Will was wearing a huge yellow hooded coat, we emerged in the corridor. He slipped his hand into mine and said, "Where exactly are we going?"

I shrugged. "The lake? We haven't done that for awhile."

It was perfectly true. In our fourth year we'd walked around the lake all the time, but for some reason we'd just stopped. (Perhaps it was the increased workload, I have no idea.)

Our walk downstairs was mostly quiet. It was a comfortable silence, though I found my thoughts wandering…

Sometimes I think about really bizarre things. One time I wondered what it would be like to be a Slytherin. Another time I interrogated practically everyone in my year about the colour of their underwear. Just a few days before our walk I found myself pondering the size of the girl's toilets and wondering if they were any bigger than the boy's ones. I'm a strange person. You get over it after awhile.

On this particular evening I was thinking about … Will. Fairly mundane when it comes to me, actually. But more importantly, I was thinking about how little I actually knew about him. I mean, I tell him heaps of stuff about me, like how I accidentally peed on my grandfather when I was five. You know, important stuff.

This interesting chain of thoughts was interrupted when we reached the Entrance Hall. There weren't many people around, as most people were at dinner, and the grounds were deserted when we stepped outside.

"Ahhh…"

Our pace slowed as we approached the lake. I studied its glassy surface as we walked, my thoughts straying back to my fantastic and utterly gorgeous boyfriend.

It was around six-thirty in the afternoon, so the sun wouldn't go down for at least an hour, but the sun was beginning to hang low over the forest. We reached the shore and slowed to a stop, and sat down on the grass. I rested my head on Will's shoulder and he began to stroke my hand.

We sat like this for perhaps ten minutes before Will spoke.

"What are you thinking about?"

I smiled. "You. How you're so wonderful, and how I know practically nothing about you."

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

"I mean, I don't know what your favourite colour is, or who your neighbours are, or whether you have siblings, or whether you love or hate Celestina Warbeck, or what your mum and dad do for a living, or -"

"All right, all right!" he cried, grinning. "Come on, Nymph. Let's walk."

He helped me up and we began to walk hand in hand around the water's edge. The water at this point was gilded with the golden light of the setting sun, and I watched the little glittering specks on the surface as we walked.

"Okay. My favourite colour is green. My neighbours on one side are two forty-something-year-old men who like to watch a Muggle movie called _The Rocky Horror Picture Show _at four in the morning, and on the other side there's a family with seven children under the age of seven. I hate Celestina Warbeck, and my parents both used to be Healers, but my dad quit and now helps St. Mungo's patients psychologically rather than physically."

"You missed one," I said, teasingly.

"Did I?"

"Yeah, the one about whether you have siblings or not…"

"Oh." He appeared to think about this question for several moments, which was kind of bizarre, and then spoke as if it was almost painful to do so. "No, I don't."

Will's expression had changed from content and thoughtful to nervous and … was that fear?

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

"Nothing," he said instantly, almost mechanically, and his face quickly became blank and expressionless.

Some people say I have good common sense. Maybe I do, I don't know. But when it comes to people, I'm completely tactless. I'm insensitive. I can't help it. So I said perhaps the worst thing it was possible for me to have said.

"Oh sure, nothing!" I scoffed. "No, seriously, what's up?"

"I just told you," he said coldly. "Nothing."

I didn't push him. I may be tactless but I'm not stupid.

OoO

Things were a little bit awkward by breakfast the next morning. Will and I sat together, like we always do, but we hardly said anything to each other. Fortunately I had Care of Magical Creatures first, so we had some more time apart.

Every single Gryffindor fifth-year is in my Care of Magical Creatures class, yet I am the only Ravenclaw. Out of ten. Why is that? (Actually, I found out it's because they're all smart enough to do Arithmancy… that says something about me, doesn't it?) So anyway, I joined _all nine _Gryffindors (I'm still not over that) and Professor Kettleburn in the grounds.

"Good morning, class," Kettleburn wheezed, leaning on his stick. "Today we will quickly finish our work with Knarls, before going up into the classroom to do some theory-" He paused to cough rather violently "-so take a Knarl between two of you…"

My Gryffindor friend Noelene Mather and I took a Knarl and proceeded to demonstrate that we could handle, draw and label it correctly. This went rather well until an embarrassing incident in which our Knarl went berserk after finding my secret stash of Pumpkin Pasties and decided I was trying to poison it. Shortly after this we packed up and moved to a classroom on the ground floor.

"We're going to continue with our work on Fire Crabs-" There was another pause as Kettleburn tried to cough half a lung into a spotted handkerchief "-so please take out the notes we took last week on diet."

I searched frantically through my book bag for an entire minute before I found the rather grubby piece of parchment on which I'd written last week's notes. I turned it over to take down today's notes, which had just appeared on the blackboard thanks to a wave of Kettleburn's wand.

Half an hour and a very sore wrist later, Kettleburn finally told us to put down our quills. I hadn't quite managed to get all the notes (actually, I hadn't managed to get much of the notes at all…) but I wasn't particularly worried.

"In Thursday's lesson, you will be beginning a new task, which you will be working on in class for the next several weeks," Kettleburn said. "In pairs, you will care for a Fire Crab and demonstrate to me that you can correctly handle, feed and clean it without serious injury to yourself or a classmate, as this often comes up in fifth-year examinations."

Certain members of the class were already eyeing each other and picking partners from across the room. I exchanged glances with Noelene. Professor Kettleburn, however, had not finished. "But," he said, "_I_ will assign partners for this unit."

"_What?_" practically the entire class cried.

"Even though we have such a small class-" he glared at me, as though it were my fault by housemates were too smart for his subject, "-you still tend to stay in the same groups. It is my job to prepare you for the real world, and in the real world you cannot work exclusively with your best friends. Therefore I think it's time I … mixed you up a bit."

The class murmured under its breath. It was true that we had the same pairs every lesson, but we all felt rather hard done by, as sixteen-year-olds are wont to do.

"So, I have selected these pairs at random," Kettleburn continued after another violent coughing fit. "Ahem. Elliott Lawlor and Allura Montrose."

Allura rolled her eyes but Elliott looked hopeful – after all, he was male and Allura certainly lived up to her name. She was very pretty with dark hair and a willowy frame, but she had a sensible head on her shoulders and wasn't particularly interested in mundane things like boys.

"Fiona Crackenthorpe and Elenora Prewett."

Elenora looked impassive, as she generally did, but we knew she would rather have been paired with Allura, who was her best friend. Fiona looked longingly at her boyfriend, Willoughby.

"Meredith Bartlett and Willoughby Finch."

Despite being named, according to Fiona, for a Muggle eighteenth-century literary hottie, Willoughby was a fairly ordinary sort of person. He wasn't much of a looker, and he didn't get exceptional marks, but he'd somehow managed to snare Fiona, which incensed nearly every boy in the school. Meredith, on the other hand, was a lovable yet utterly clumsy (hey, he sounds a bit like me!) boy with soft brown eyes and a lopsided smile. (Not that I'm not perfectly happy with my own boyfriend … ahem.)

"Edmund McFerren and Noelene Mather."

There went my usual partner. Edmund was a quiet, studious boy who was friends with Elliott. Noelene was pretty and blonde, and could by far hold the most intelligent conversation out of all the Gryffindor girls (except perhaps for Allura, but she felt that holding any conversation with me was rather beneath her).

I looked around the classroom. By a process of elimination, my partner had to be…

"Charles Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks."

Oh dear.

OoO

It's not as though I still like Charlie or anything. Of course I don't. But most of the school knew that I had liked him and that was rather embarrassing. Plus, the last time we'd actually spoken was just after he'd caught me in a rather awkward fix during the Easter holidays … it's a rather long story, but here goes.

Most of the fifth-years stayed at school to study and a few of us had a pyjama party in the common room. Mattie, Isabelle, Rachael and I were there. Anyway, we began to play truth or dare, as you do, and Mattie dared me to run a circuit around the seventh floor topless, which I agreed to at once, as I am not one to resist a dare, and who was at school to see me anyway?

Little did I know, Charlie's brother Bill, who was the Head Boy at the time, had arranged a patrol that night, after several complaints from teachers who had stumbled upon trysting couples. This was, I later discovered, the reason Ethel hadn't joined us (although I doubt she would have anyway). Matilda worked out a route for me to take, which included a short detour down to the sixth floor but didn't allow me to cheat (like I would!). So off I ran, in my pyjama pants and nothing else. I'm not the world's greatest athlete, but I'm pretty quick on my feet … you can't be slow when you get into as much trouble as I do. I managed to get most of the way without any major accidents … until I reached the stairs.

I'd reached a trick stair, which I'd been jumping ever since first year, but in my haste I forgot it was there, and hey presto, I was stuck.

I had just enough time to contemplate the stupidity of my situation when Charlie appeared at the bottom of the stairwell. I immediately covered myself as best I could with my hands, so I don't think he saw anything, and he fetched his brother to conjure something for me to wrap myself up in before freeing me from the staircase. Bill thought it was absolutely hilarious but promised not to tell anyone, and I didn't get in trouble because he thought I'd already had a rather fitting punishment.

So all in all, partnering Charlie Weasley was one of the last things I wanted to do at that particular time, as I'm sure you'd understand. For this reason I ran immediately from the Care of Magical Creatures classroom as soon as the bell rang, though this had the opposite effect to that which I'd intended. I ran headlong into the doorframe, and who appeared, grinning, to help me up? Charlie Weasley, of course.

"You really should be more careful, Tonks," he said, offering me his rough and calloused hand. I took it reluctantly. "What have you got next?"

"Transfiguration," I replied, lurching unsteadily to my feet. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. See you Thursday."

My thoughts?

_Shit. Thursday … I wish I were old enough to drink Firewhisky.

* * *

_

**A/N: **Well. Remember how I said I hoped this chapter wouldn't be as hard to write as the last one? It was. Dammit.

On the bright side, I have now worked out all the students in Tonks' year, her timetable, and a bunch of other things. Oh, I decided to change Chris Kingston, who was mentioned in the last chapter, to Patrick Birch because I like the name better. I can't be bothered to change the last chapter. So yeah.

There are a couple of things I'd like to explain. First of all, I can hear you all thinking 'Care of Magical Creatures Theory? What next?' but I figured Kettleburn would be a better teacher than Hagrid and would be rather thorough on these sorts of things, and I can't imagine a guy who's lost a few limbs out in the grounds all day, everyday.

As for the incident in the Easter holidays, I remembered that Tonks said she wasn't a Prefect because she lacked necessary qualities, like the ability to behave herself. I think I'm getting better at making her clumsy, but I hadn't made her naughty yet, so I figured I may as well add something along those lines. Next chapter I'll try and have her saying 'Wotcher' at least once, I promise.


End file.
